Lucky Doctor 13
by Nehszriah
Summary: The year is 2028, a few years after the Doctor gains his 13th form. A mysterious force desires the brain of a sixth form student and her neighbour isn't quite what he seems to be. Paths collide quicker than one can sneeze, but is it more than luck?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own _Doctor Who_ or any of the associated characters and offshoot series.

CLAIMER: I do, however, lay claim to some of the original characters in this. All usage should be linked back to me, if you please.

NOTES: I integrated my prologue and first chapter in one go so that I don't have to chapters to start like a twit. Also, I do expect all of this to be null and void in a few years' time. Let me have my fun.

* * *

**Lucky Doctor 13**

Prologue

_27 March 2018_

_20:41 GMT_

_Greater London — Ipswich Avenue_

It was calm in the neighbourhood as the last of the sun's rays faded from the sky. The neighbourhood welcomed the night with an austere grace, as many tend to let on. A grey automobile slunk down the lane and into a drive, coming home from a long day at the office. The sole occupant emerged and walked up to his porch, fumbling for his house key along the way. Between the brightly-wrapped package stuff under his arm and his briefcase and laptop bag, it was difficult to keep proper balance.

"Darling? Holly? I'm home!" he called out once he got in the door. All the lights in the house were out save for the one coming from the back in the kitchen. He kicked off his shoes and dropped his bags on the staircase to the upper floor, intent on moving them later.

"Come on now, why so quiet?" the man laughed, walking up to the double-hinged door separating him from the kitchen. He crept down in order to open the door with a flourish. "Don't be shy! It's not every day a young lady turns se—"

The man froze in place at the sight before him: his wife was being restrained by two burly men, who had her gagged, while a woman sat on the table with an expectant look upon her face. The mystery woman bore a toothy grin and chuckled.

"'Bout bloody time," she said. "Been wai'n a good tw'eny minutes fer yeh."

"What do you want from us…?" the man asked, his voice firm. His eyes darted from the intruders to his wife and back. "Money? Jewellery?"

"Oh, we're not interested in your silly Earth treasures," the woman laughed. The man blinked at her, as she had changed accents on the turn of a dime and now sounded much more refined. "What we want, only your wife can give to us." She tapped the side of her head. "You do understand, of course. It is only a reasonable request."

"No… I don't understand…" the man replied. He quickly glanced around the kitchen, looking for what he could use against the intruders. Since the knife block was too far away, the closest place where an effective weapon would be was the broom cupboard. He was decent with a broomstick, being as a child he would wield the broom while his brother came after him with the mop. The man stepped back, his brown skin growing paler by the second.

"Please don't resist, love," the woman said. "It's not like we want to hurt you. Feel lucky we only want her."

Resolutely, the man grabbed on to the knob of the cupboard and swung it open, ready to snatch his makeshift weapon and defend his wife and home. Upon turning around, however, there was a sort of pinging sound and the man dropped dead onto the floor. The woman sitting on the table lowered her weapon, which oddly resembled a toy gun, and jumped to her feet.

"Alright, now that that's taken care of, let's go," she said. The captive woman wriggled an arm free and pulled down the gag that had been silencing her.

"What have you done?!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "That was my husband!"

"He's probably better off, knowing what's in store for this place," the woman shrugged. The captive gave her a blank look of confusion, not quite knowing what to say.

"Right then, off with her to the ship."

"Shaun!"

"She's screaming a mite loud, ma'am."

"Oh God, Shaun! Why?!"

"Shut her up then! Careful not to damage the brain now; precious cargo, that one."

"It's hot… it's getting so hot… SHAUN!"

The screaming woman was gagged once again and carried out into the backyard, where an egg-shaped craft was landed. She was pushed in and never heard from again.

* * *

_9 August 2019_

_10:37 GMT_

_London — House of Lords_

Luke Smith fidgeted in his seat, uncomfortably looking at the man sitting on the other side of the cherry-wood desk. Now a man of twenty-four, Luke felt certain that he knew the older man was looking over him with severe scrutiny. These emotions, inflections, hidden meanings of things, was still often a more difficult concept to grasp if the other individual was a stranger, or if he was as down-right nervous as in that very moment.

"…an excellent spot in your university class, extensive knowledge and prior exposure to extraterrestrial life forms, optimal physical scores, a glowing recommendation from Sarah Jane… this is quite the résumé you have here."

"Thank you sir." Luke despised it when his stomach attempted to reach his throat; it made his shoulders shake something terrible.

"Well now, there's only one minor thing I would like to touch subject on before I welcome you to the team."

"What is it, sir? Did I not perform well on the written practical?"

"No, no… excellent scores on that. This is more of a… rumour I would rather debunk right here and now. I do understand the _circumstances_ under which you were born into this world, but I have been told by several highly educated and sane individuals that claim that because of this you have no navel?"

Luke chuckled, slightly relieved at the confusion on the man's face.

"A navel? Is that what it's about?" he chuckled. Luke stood up and lifted his shirt slightly, showing the smooth spot where a navel should have been. "Comes from being grown, you know. There is no need, naturally."

The older man laughed and stood up, extending his hand for Luke to shake. "Welcome to Project 38."

* * *

_2 April 2024_

_05:02 GMT_

_Lincolnshire — a field — the TARDIS_

The Doctor blearily opened his eyes, swimming back to consciousness. This was now his thirteenth form while dealing with Earth, and the adventures surrounding her, and was beginning to find this whole regeneration business was becoming more and peskier with each passing term. Judging by the thin layer of dust that had accumulated on the control panels, about a fortnight had gone past. This was up from the prior regeneration, which had been a few hours, which was already up from the few mirco-moments the time hence that, which had resulted in nearly wrecking the TARDIS. Although these forms had been much hardier in the long run, their emergence was causing too much damage for his liking.

"Well, let's make sure everything's in order," he muttered aloud to himself. Hands, feet, arms, legs, a face with all the equipment—everything seemed to be in place. He went to the mirror a past companion had tacked to one of the pillars and took in his new face; his eyes were brown, his nose Roman and his skin splashed with freckles that looked like they would explode in number if he went out in the sun too often. A shock of red hair sat atop his head, accompanied with some reddish stubble across his chin.

"Great Scott! Finally!" he exclaimed, brimming with excitement. "Ginger, ginger, I'm finally a ginger! Oh, this is going to be a splendid time!

The Doctor began happily wandering around the TARDIS, cleaning off the dust and tidying up the place. Luckily, the majority of the damage caused by the regeneration had stayed contained within him, keeping the shattered glass quota to a minimum. Once he was satisfied with the condition of the ship, The Doctor went back to the mirror and admired his new visage again.

"Oh, yes… that'll do quite nicely," he grinned. His sharp chin brought his narrow face to a pleasing point that reminded the Time Lord of a character out of a Sherlock Holmes tale. He chuckled to think of running around in modern London in Victorian clothing. Loosening his necktie, The Doctor found a change in wardrobe was desperately called for.

Relieving himself of his shirt and necktie on the way to the closet, The Doctor decided that he wanted something a little less formal than before and retired the tie for the time being. He tossed his previous form's clothes into the closet and pulled out some new ones. Black denim pants, a white collared shirt and black trainers all felt nice, but he still wanted a jumper and dug furiously through the mass of clothes until he found a nice emerald one that was immediately forced over his head.

"New face, new clothes, clean TARDIS… I think I'm ready!"

* * *

Chapter 1

_26 March 2028_

_16.58 GMT_

_Chiswick, Greater London_

"So I says to Ginny 'Really, you expect me to believe that?' and you want to know what? She did!"

"Oh! The nerve!"

"Honestly, I just don't know how the girl gets along, being such a little totter and all."

"I wouldn't quite call her a totter, Holly, but she surely shouldn't think that she has the upper hand in trivia when matched against you."

"What she knows isn't even trivia. It's more stuff you learn in school and not much else. Who needs to know the capital of Istanbul anyways?"

The two girls laughed at one another and paused their conversation for a sip of soda. For Aggie Light and Holly Temple-Noble, it was like this every day. After a long day of gossip and putting the right people in their places at school, they would walk back to Holly's house and discuss their adventures… even if they were right next to one another during them. It was tiring work, being the two foremost authorities in trivia and coordination in St. Ethelred's Comprehensive School for the past five years in succession and Sixth Form was not going to keep them from slowing down. Seventeen was a glorious age, indeed.

Well, seventeen was glorious for Aggie, at least. The day after would be Holly's seventeenth birthday, which was going to be cause for one of the best parties St. Ethelred's had ever seen. All of those in the know had been atwitter since reconvening after the Christmas holiday and all the rest only wished they could come.

"So, I wonder how your grandmum's gonna take the party tomorrow," Aggie grinned, nibbling on the edge of a cracker. "She was kind enough to let us plan it."

"Oh, she'll go bonkers if she comes home before midnight, that's for sure," Holly laughed. "I've got her going over to visit the neighbour; I think he fancies her."

"Mr. Hartwell? Not him! He's too young for her!"

"A May-December romance isn't unheard of, Aggie," Holly said. She took another sip of soda and laughed. "The two of them have been close since he moved in next door however many years ago it was. I thought it was obvious."

"Clearly not that obvious," Aggie frowned. "Then again, you're around him more than me, aren't you?"

"There's no denying the fact that the man's young enough to be my uncle. If you ask me, it should really be the other way around; he is a good looking man."

"Oh, behave! A man such as that has to have someone and she most certainly won't be a girl sticking around in sixth form just to please her grandmum."

"Really now… listen to me!" Holly laughed. "His housemate is always bringing home women, but he never does! He doesn't even bring home men! Besides, it's good to daydream a little. How's he different than Javier Langton?"

"Javier Langton is unattached and older, yes, but he's also a drop-dead-gorgeous, famous actor! Unless your neighbour is a famous actor, it seems rather off, you know?"

"You're just jealous…"

Aggie glared at Holly and took another sip of her soda. They stayed silent for a few moments, before a rapping on the back door alerted them to another presence.

"Holly! Will you be a dear and open the door?" Sylvia Noble called. Holly complied and went to the back kitchen, where her grandmother was waiting with a sack of groceries in her arms. Sylvia immediately placed her shopping down on the table and took off her raincoat, which had been soaked thanks to the rain outside.

"Is that the stuff for tonight's supper?" Holly asked.

"Of course!' Sylvia replied in a singsong voice. "Making your favourite—Sunday roast, not on a Sunday, with mashed turnip and pudding. Wait... it is Sunday, isn't it? Oh, hello there Aggie. How are you?"

"Just fine, Mrs. Noble. Need any help?"

"I got it in one trip, thank you. I already had most of the fixings here, so there wasn't much to get. Have you girls settled on what you want to do for the party tomorrow?"

"That we have, Grandmum," Holly said, taking the package of biscuits from the shopping and helping herself. "Just a few friends, is all. Nothing big."

"You better; I'm giving up my granddaughter on her birthday. Are you sure you don't want me to help out? I've done so with all your other parties."

"Thanks Grandmum, but we've got this one," Holly said. "All you have to do is relax tomorrow and everything will be fine."

"It better," Sylvia threatened. She was about to elaborate, but there was a knock on the kitchen door. A tall man in his early thirties with shaggy brown hair and a lopsided smile stood there waving through the door window. He was sopping wet from head to toe, as if he had walked a kilometre in the rain before coming.

"You free, Sylvia?" he asked.

"Just come in Gregg, you fool!" Sylvia snapped. The man did so, bringing with him a package that he placed on the kitchen counter. It was rectangular and wrapped in soggy, striped paper.

"How's it going?" he asked. "Oh, 'lo there Holly, Aggie."

"Hello Mr. Hartwell," the girls said in unison.

"Tell me, Sylvia, is there any chance I can talk to you? I've got something to discuss and it's rather important."

"Not now, I've got supper to put on the table." The older woman gave the man a cross frown. "If you need to talk to me that badly, I'm free tomorrow evening."

"I thought tomorrow was Holly's birthday—that's why I brought her present early."

"We're throwing our own party," Aggie smirked. "It'll be a smash!"

"Oh, lovely! Am I invited?" Gregg asked.

"Not unless you want to be surrounded by a bunch of Sixth Form girls like a pervert," Sylvia said. "We'll go down to the pub, you and me, alright? How's that sound? I know I'll probably want to stay far away from here too."

"You in there, Gregg?!" shouted a voice from outside. A glance over his shoulder saw his housemate, Cecil Brix, standing by the fence with an umbrella and looking rather irked. "I wanted you over to meet Lydia and I know you're far from presentable!"

"Coming!" Gregg shouted out the ajar door. He turned to the ladies and chuckled nervously. "Sorry, but I've got to go. Cecil's got this new girl, you see..."

"Yes, yes, like every other month, now go!" Sylvia ordered. Gregg bounded out the door and left the old woman to roll her eyes.

"What a scatterbrain that man is," she scoffed. "If he got out of the house even half of what Cecil does, he'd have himself a nice girl by now."

"Mr. Brix has women over constantly," Holly said. "Aspiring to his heights would be quite dangerous if you ask me."

"Behave," Sylvia scolded. "Now you two run off; I can't have you getting in my way. I'm bad enough in the kitchen as is." She ushered the girls out into the hall, the two giggling the entire way. Sadly, Sylvia closed the door behind them and glanced at a photo hanging on the wall that had been taken nearly fifteen years prior. Holly was a toddler, clutching onto her father Shaun and mother Donna. They had been such a happy family; almost ten years now they had been broken up. Sylvia knew that she had to inform her granddaughter of her parents' fates sooner or later, but it was simply something that she could not bring herself to do.

* * *

_27 March 2028_

_21.49 GMT_

Smooth beats filled the air, pulsating through the partygoers. The various teens mingled amongst one another, dancing and socializing and not caring about anything else than having a grand time. The party was going along perfectly. Holly was pleased as she surveyed the action. It was a who's who of the school's upper social echelons. It was the event of the year, that was for certain. She had invited most of Sixth Form, which meant that there were dozens of her classmates wandering about.

"Great party!" Aggie shouted over the music. Holly smiled at her friend and silently thanked God for thick structural walls.

"Holly!" shouted an unwanted voice.—a cross voice. Holly and Aggie turned around to see Sylvia standing there, not looking very pleased.

"Oh... hi Grandmum..."

"TURN THAT MUSIC OFF RIGHT NOW!" Sylvia yelled. One of the boys by the stereo shut it off, as all the partygoers had stopped to observe the older woman who they had been assured was out to the pub for the night. Gregg, noticing the change in atmosphere in the room, popped his head in from the hall and whistled.

"Someone's in a spot," he marvelled.

"Shut up, Gregg," Sylvia snapped, not even breaking her glare at Holly. "You told me that you would have 'a few friends' over!"

"It's not like I invited _all_ of Sixth Form..."

"That's it! Party's over! Everyone get out and be lucky I don't inform your parents about this!"

The teens all began to filter out of the house until finally it was just Holly and Aggie standing guiltily in the living room to face the wrath of Sylvia.

"Grandmum, you said I could invite some kids from school!"

"A few friends, not half the upper levels!"

"Once you start inviting people, there are some that you just cannot ignore! At least I didn't bother with the lame kids or the ones that should have dropped."

Sylvia took a deep breath to steady herself and forced herself to speak calmly. "I want the two of you to clean up this mess." She motioned towards the relative state of disarray her house was now in. "You two should have counted on this right mess from the moment you planned this little party of yours."

"Yes ma'am," the girls submitted sourly. There was no use arguing at this point; the woman was furious.

"I want you to go home after this, Aggie. I'm sorry I had said you could stay over before, but this is serious. Holly needs to have a while to think things over for herself."

"I understand, ma'am," Aggie said. "We'll be done in a jiff."

"Good, now I need to talk with Mr. Hartwell for a moment, so just straighten up in here until we're done." Sylvia stormed out of the room and went to the kitchen, dragging Gregg the entire way by his ear.

"Ow! What was that for?! I would have followed!" Gregg exclaimed as he finally got his ear back.

"You had me convinced at the pub that we should tell her, but I don't know anymore!" Sylvia took a deep breath and sighed. "She had said only a few people—that had to have been at least thirty or forty, and on a school night at that! I don't think she's ready."

"Shouldn't we tell her anyways?"

"After she goes behind my back like that? I don't think she's mature enough to know she's part—whatever the hell that man was—we have to put it off until she goes to university."

"Sylvia... Mrs. Noble... we've put it off long enough. If we don't tell her, I'm not quite sure I can still guarantee her safety," Gregg said. "If she doesn't have at least an inkling of what is going on, what is going to happen when they finally catch up with her? What if she has abilities that we don't know about, but she cannot control under dire circumstances? Puberty's almost over for her and for all we know she could turn into a time bomb once it ends, taking out a large radius in seconds flat."

"How do you know any of that will happen? Can't she just grow up like a normal girl?!"

"We don't know if she can or not... which is why we have to tell her. If I can't do my job, things could get real ugly."

"Then will all of this end when we tell her?" Sylvia asked. There was a sadness in her eyes that Gregg had seen before: a mother still mourning the loss of her daughter and still clinging to her granddaughter for comfort. It was the same look she had given him when he first informed her of the exact reason as to why he had moved in next door.

"I hope it will," Gregg said. He had been playing the part of the friendly neighbour for years, being there for Mrs. Noble and her abhorrent grandchild whom had been spoiled and smothered. The other neighbours asked funny questions about their relationship at times, but it was all laughed off. They were friends for sure—no doubting that—though the core of their amiable charade was something on another level entirely.

Suddenly, there was a scream from the other room that pierced through the two adults. Sylvia and Gregg rushed out to find Holly standing over Aggie's collapsed form, distraught and wide-eyed.

"I swear, I didn't do anything!" Holly panicked. "We were just tidying up like you told us to and all of a sudden, she just fainted!"

"Calm down, nothing's wrong," Gregg sighed. He picked up Aggie and placed her on the crumb-covered couch. "Just get a cold cloth. She might just be a little dehydrated, is all; it was rather warm in here when half your school was over."

"I'll get the cloth and some water," Sylvia offered. She quickly fetched what she required from the kitchen, but came back to a horrific sight. Aggie was wrought in convulsions, her body twitching back and forth madly.

"Oh, God, make her stop!" Holly cried. "Mr. Hartwell, what is going on with her?!"

"Do you know if Aggie carries any medication on her?!" Gregg asked, attempting to stay calm. Holly dove for her friend's handbag and began rummaging through it. She pulled out a small bottle and handed it to Gregg.

"Here... I know she takes these often," she said. Gregg took one look at the bottle and jumped away from the girl on the couch.

"Get out of here!" he ordered. The man dropped the bottle and began ushering Holly and Sylvia out of the room.

"...but we have to help her!"

"Seriously, Gregg! What is going on here?"

Just then, the trio were interrupted by a flash of light coming from Aggie's direction. Sylvia dropped the glass of water, allowing it to shatter on the wooden floor. A blinding light came from Aggie's eyes and mouth, filling the room and causing Gregg, Sylvia and Holly to shield their eyes.

As the light dimmed, Aggie began to laugh. It was an eerie chortle—an underlying tone that sent chills to the bone. Once the light had fully died down, the Aggie they knew was not there. Instead, a violet, scaly lizard-humanoid that was only recognizable as Aggie due to the eyes stood there menacingly.

"Oh... Christ... a Varanian..." Gregg breathed. "How did I not see that...?"

"A-A-Aggie...?" Holly whispered. "What happened to you...?"

"I guess I misjudged the effects of the longer-lasting pills," the creature chuckled. "They kept me in that pathetic form for too long... I was becoming dull."

"Get out of here! Leave this thing to me!" Gregg ordered. "This is dangerous!"

"I desire that brain of yours," the Aggie-creature said, pointing at Holly. It moved forward, causing the humans to flee towards the kitchen.

"What does my brain have to do with any of this?!" Holly asked in a panic.

"Long story, just give me a mite," Gregg said, fetching a kitchen knife from the wooden block on the counter and what looked like a small laser-pointer from his trouser pocket. He gave Holly the knife and shoved the two women behind the island counter.

"I don't know if I'm going to need that, so just hold onto it for me. Now stay there," he ordered. The Aggie creature-barged into the room, now wielding a ray gun-looking weapon in one of its dastardly claws. Gregg aimed the laser pointer at the weapon and turned it on; the gun crumbled into pieces.

"So, you wish to go the hard way, eh?" the creature chuckled, accent changing from Londoner to Canadian. It charged at Gregg, ready to tear his arms clean off. Gregg ducked and delivered a hook to the creature's midsection. It staggered momentarily, but Gregg's hand was thusly rendered useless thanks to the solidity of the being's scales.

"The knife!" Gregg yelled. "Throw it!" Holly froze, not comprehending the situation due her state of shock. The being was still Aggie, somehow, and nothing was very clear at all.

"Oh, for the King's sake..." Sylvia groaned. She took the knife from her granddaughter's hand and threw it at Gregg. The man caught it with his good hand and embedded the blade into the shoulder of the creature. It screamed and a hissing noise began coming from the wound. The noise continued as the creature began to collapse upon itself, only leaving behind a floppy sack of scaly skin.

"Oh... my... God... what just happened...?" Holly asked.

"The last thing keeping you ignorant has disappeared, it seems," Gregg said, breathing heavily. "Come on over to my place and I'll explain it all over some tea."

* * *

Sylvia and Holly sat on the couch in the sitting room of the man the latter only knew as Gregg Hartwell. However, her grandmother knew better, and did her absolute damnedest to keep her mouth shut. Sylvia was half in tears, though she tried not to show it.

"My mum always told me visitors need tea," Gregg said cheerily as he walked in with a tray. It contained three mugs and a teapot on it, as well as some sugar that Holly immediately piled in her mug. His injured hand was now bandaged into a neat bundle of cloth. "Is this good?"

"Oh, excellent, thank you," Sylvia said. "Go on... you might as well introduce yourself."

"Grandmum, that's Mr. Hartwell," Holly said as she poured the tea into her mug. "He's been living next to us since I was twelve."

"Not exactly," the man said. "You many have known me as Mr. Hartwell, but my name is actually one Luke Smith. I work for Project 38, which is a special government organization designed to protect and defend against hostile extraterrestrials. It is, specifically, an elite group that is something of a special-ops."

"Does Mr. Brix work for Project 38 as well?" Holly asked, referring to the housemate she had known and seen so many times. Gregg, now comfortably Luke again, laughed.

"No, he works for UNIT, which I assure you is different," he said. "Clyde just has a normal desk job. He's not a field agent sort of guy. Interferes with his personal life, so he leads me to believe."

"Cl—"

"Clyde Langer; had to give him a false name too you know. Him and I have been best mates since secondary school, so he sort of demanded to come as another renter."

"Then... what do you do?"

"Luke was assigned to protect us," Sylvia said. "Aliens like the one Aggie turned into kidnapped your mother, so once Project 38 heard that the Varanians still demanded a Time Lord brain, we had to go under their protection. Did I get that all right?"

"Of course."

"Time Lord? What sort of nonsense is that?" Holly asked.

"Before your parents met," Luke explained, "your mother, Donna Noble, travelled with a Time Lord, which is a humanoid being from another planet called Gallifrey. During their adventures, their DNA was forced into being spliced, causing the being to give Miss Noble half a Time Lord brain. It came to pass that your mother's memories of her adventures had to be wiped, so that the extraterrestrial half did not combust and kill her. The Doctor thought she was safe after the defeat of The Master, though he could not have predicted the Varanians' desire for such a brain."

"I know we told you it was a robbery, but you were too young to know," Sylvia added. "It was just luck you were over at my flat waiting for your parents instead of at home with your mother."

"Doctor? Master?"

"The Time Lords that are left after the great Time War have cast aside their names and gone by aliases for the protection of themselves and others," Luke explained. "The Doctor was the one your mother travelled with. My mother did too, more than a few times. They were both interesting companions, so I've heard."

"So if my mother became part 'Time Lord' and couldn't live with it, then why have I been fine?"

"We don't know," Luke said. "Frankly, it's been chalked up to your majority human DNA keeping everything in check so far, as well as the possibility that your Time Lord DNA is more spread out in your body instead of concentrated like your mother's was. We don't know what sort of abilities or abnormal traits you might possess. I had wanted to tell you sooner, but your grandmother wouldn't allow it."

"I lost my daughter and son-in-law to all this alien business," Sylvia said sourly. "You know how willing I am to just hand over my granddaughter at the drop of a hat."

"Precisely, which is why I am proposing this now." Luke extended his arm over the coffee table offering his hand to Holly. "Would you like to come and find out who you are, what you are and what you are capable of doing? I'll only offer this once and never again. Pass this up and you'll be regular Holly Temple-Noble, a girl who always has to live in the protection of the government and in the shadow of interstellar fear. Take it, and who knows what you might find."

"I... I don't know Mr. Hartwell..."

"Luke, please; Mr. Smith, if Luke's too much."

"Mr. Smith, I..." Holly looked over at her grandmother. The woman was clearly not pleased, yet she was not angry either.

"It's your choice to make," Luke said.

"Will I still get to see Grandmum?"

"'Course."

"...and Gramps and Gran Temple and my cousins?"

"Eventually."

Holly hesitated for a moment, her hand hovering mid-air. After a moment, she took Luke's hand and shook it.

"Any funny business and I'm out, you hear me?"

"I hear you."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

_28 March 2028_

_08.29 GMT_

"I told you Gran, it's just a bit of an exchange trip," Holly sighed into the phone. She was on the line with her grandmother in Teddington, who seemed less than pleased that she was leaving on a trip without much warning. Holly knew it would be necessary though, so that her absence would be explainable to the rest of her family.

"There was a man that came over to the house yesterday afternoon with my headmaster and they offered me this. No, I checked it out on the internet—it's perfectly safe. All I've been told is to pack for all weather and I've got to catch the train at nine. Yes, they'll be there. Yes, Grandmum Temple talked to them. Yes, my escort's named Luke Smith—he was the one who came over. GRANDMUM!"

"What is it, Holly?" Sylvia asked, poking her head in the bedroom. She had been in a sour mood the entire morning.

"Can you please talk to Gran for me? She doesn't seem to want to let me go!"

"Give me that." Sylvia took the phone from her granddaughter and held it up to her ear with a false smile. "Hello there Agatha! Oh? The programme? Let me explain that to you... the girl's just so wrapped up in it all she can barely take it." Sylvia backed out the door with a disapproving look on her face that clearly told Holly that she owed her.

With a bit of a laugh, Holly took one last good look around her room. The night before, Luke had told her to pack her rucksack with a few clothes and things for while she was away (although she was only able to narrow it down to her schoolbag and small duffel). Project 38 expected to have her for a couple weeks at the least, simply for observation. She would be allowed home every so often to visit her grandparents, but she was now, officially, legally, a ward of the Project. Her school had been notified of her "travelling exchange scholarship" and seemed perfectly fine with letting her leave. The strings were all pulled perfectly.

A photograph tacked to the corkboard above Holly's desk caught her eye and she frowned. It was of her and Aggie, a few months prior on a class trip to Devon. It was cold that day, so they were bundled up in coats and scarves and mittens so that the only thing she could clearly see were their laughing eyes. Those eyes... she had seen those eyes on that creature... the very thought of it made her shiver.

Holly took the tack out of the photo and turned it around, securing it back so the white back of the paper was shown. When she did, she looked down at her desk and saw a sad little package sitting on it amongst the papers and things that had been strewn about the surface over term. The wrapping was waterlogged and wrinkled, but still bright and cheery. She went to open it when there was a knock on her door. Holly looked up and saw Luke standing there, holding an umbrella and wearing a garishly-printed mackintosh.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Erm... I guess...?" Holly said, hiding the package behind her back. Luke leaned on the doorjamb and chuckled at the teen.

"Go on; open it," he said. "I know what's in it, after all." Holly opened it and frowned.

"A book? Seriously?"

"Thought you might find it interesting," Luke grinned. "Take it with you and let's go. I'm sure you'll find plenty of time to catch up on your reading while you're with Project 38."

_10.37 GMT_

_Project 38 Labs — Main Branch — Wales_

Evelyn Porter stood with her arms crossed and tapping her foot impatiently as the ginger man fiddled with some electronic trinkets that had been laid out on the table—very expensive electronic trinkets to be exact. The woman was down to her wit's end with him and she meant it. She scrunched up her nose in disapproval and frowned severely.

"I hope that you know what you're doing there," she said. The man did not even look up from what he was doing and waved a hand lazily at her.

"Leave me be, please," he said. "I would like to play in peace if you don't mind, Miss Porter."

"_Doctor_ Porter, if you don't mind," the woman growled through gritted teeth. Her ears flushed a bright red as she glared down the man. "I am not wearing this lab coat for nothing."

"Good for you."

"You don't even care, do you?"

"I think that would be lovely, yes."

Raising her arms up in the air, Evelyn turned on her heels and stormed out of the room. She went down the hall to where a pair of men were sitting at a table, both dressed in fancy military garb.

"I've had enough with him, Al," she said, slamming her hands down onto the table. "He's rude and conceited and doesn't listen to a thing I tell him and...!"

"Relax Evvie," one of the men sighed. He had the same brown hair as her and a bit of a smile, accentuating the fact he was her junior by a few years. "Once Smith gets back from fetching that half-breed girl, we can send him on his way. You know him staying here is a favour to us."

"I know, I know... why Granddad kept such irritating company is beyond me," Evelyn groaned.

"Evvie, it's not like he's the end of the world," the other man said. His complexion was darker than the others', but had the same eyes as the man sitting across from him. "Sure, he's a little, odd, but you have to remember who and what he is..."

"Yes, he is the Doctor, from a planet called Gallifrey, and he has a magic box that we used to hear in our bedtime stories, but that doesn't mean I like the man."

"Uh... excuse me...?" asked a timid voice from the doorway. Evelyn spun around and saw one of the newest laboratory aides standing just outside the boundary of the room, staring sideways at the wall and avoiding eye contact.

"What is it Yates?"

"We just got contact from Mr. Smith, ma'am," he said. "He said he just left the station with Miss Temple-Noble and will be arriving within the hour."

"Excellent. I want you, Perth and Bennington to go make sure the lab's ready for when Miss Temple-Noble arrives. Go tell Favring that I want him to run a diagnostic on those samples once more and _please_ tell Anita that we need to have that room for the girl ready... I am not going to have our ward living in a cupboard like she's the unwanted step-child."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" the aide said. He saluted the three and scuttled off, clearly afraid of them.

"I do like it how we're the ones that are in the military, but you're the one that gets saluted left and right," the darker-skinned man chuckled. Evelyn simply rolled her eyes and sulked out of the room.

_11.28 GMT_

_A field—Wales_

Holly was not amused as she walked along the cobblestone path that was more grass than stone after the who-knows-how-many years of disuse. It was murder on her feet, and she had even had the right mind to wear trainers. The worst part is that she was carrying both her bags, while Luke only had his light rucksack with him. Couldn't he be a gentleman and take at least one of her bags? She took a whiff of what registered in her nose as sheep waste and cringed.

"Why on Earth did the bus have to drop us off here?! It's the middle of bloody nowhere!" she barked up at Luke, who seemed to cheerily ignore her. "I swear, this Project 56 stuff better be good or I'm reporting you...!"

"Thirty-eight... and you won't do that... trust me..." Luke said as they continued walking down the path. They came to a small hill, which sloped down on the other side to a valley where stone ruins laid in eerie rest.

"This doesn't look like what I signed up for in the slightest," Holly said sourly.

"Don't get all cross now." Luke began to slide down the slope until he reached where it began to level off. Holly followed him, trying hard not to fall on her face, and had to run to catch up.

The two walked in silence until they arrived at the ruins. Once there, Luke began to hop around on the crumbling stone walls, surveying the surrounding land. After pondering for a moment, he hopped down and began briskly walking to one of the piles of mossy stone.

"You're bonkers," Holly scoffed.

"Don't knock it before you try it, love," Luke grinned, kicking one of the stones lying on the ground. It flipped open to reveal a red button, which he subsequently stepped on. A mechanical grinding noise and a pressurized hiss accompanied a piece of the stone pile edging away to reveal a door, hidden in the false rock. A white staircase led down into the ground below, which Luke started to descend immediately. Holly stood at the edge of the stairs and looked down nervously.

"Coming Holly?"

"Uh, Mr. Smith...? Are you sure this is legit?"

"Been paying my bills for the past eight years... so of course!"

Warily, Holly began to follow Luke down the staircase and along a whitewashed corridor that felt and smelled very sterile. Men and women in white lab coats and military uniforms scuttled in and out of the hall, ducking into rooms and discussing with one another without paying Luke and Holly any attention, making the teen feel quite curious.

"Mr. Smith... where _are_ we going...?"

"Just step lightly and follow me," Luke said, not slowing his step. There was an intersection, where he took a left, and then took a right at another intersection, and finally popped into a room. Holly had to run to catch up, and when she did, ran headlong into Luke's back in the process.

"Why'd you stop, Mr. Smith?"

Holly glanced out from behind Luke and saw three men and a woman standing in the small room, looking as if they had been hovering tensely over a laptop computer moments prior. The woman was shorter than all the men, smartly dressed in a white lab coat and wearing a pair of wire-frame spectacles. Two of the men were in military uniform and looked very important and the third man was dressed in a pair of black denim pants and a blue woollen jumper over a white collared shirt. He, Holly thought, looked quite out-of-place in the strict environment, more resembling someone's odd uncle than anything else.

"Sirs, ma'am, I have brought you Miss Holly Temple-Noble, as per requested," Luke said, giving a quick salute. The expressions of the four brightened and they seemed to relax.

"Good work, Smith," the woman smiled. "She seems to be in one piece, which is a good thing. I didn't want to have to dissect anything after I heard of that Varanian attack yesterday."

"Oh, I don't think there was any worry of that," the man in the jumper chuckled. "She's only got the best intergalactic bodyguard in this sector watching over her; I wouldn't be too worried."

"Thanks, Doctor," Luke grinned. He turned to Holly and stepped out of the way so that the others in the room could see her properly. "Holly, I want you to meet the people in charge here. This is Colonel Alistair Porter, his sister Dr. Evelyn Porter, and their cousin Lieutenant Colonel Okere Lethbridge-Stewart. Between the three of them, they make sure Project 38 runs as smoothly as a well-oiled motorcar."

"It's good to finally meet you," Evelyn said, walking up to Holly and shaking her hand. "I am glad you decided to come along for this ride. I've been eager to study your DNA since I first learned of your existence."

"Wot's the matter with my DNA?" Holly asked, raising an eyebrow. "Should I have a wonky arm or a tail or something?!"

"Not in the slightest," Evelyn chuckled, smiling wearily. She glanced over at the man in the jumper and her face hardened again. "It's just that I've had all I can take from him."

"Don't be hard on yourself, Evvie," the man in the jumper laughed. As Evelyn glared daggers at him, he jumped over to where Holly and Evelyn stood and took the teenager by the hands. "Oh, neither cold nor warm."

"Pardon me...?"

"Cold hands, warm heart, warm hands, cold heart, my child." He scratched his ginger hair and laughed again.

"Are you that _doctor_ Mr. Smith was telling me about on the train over?" Holly asked. She placed her bags down by the door and stood staring at the man with her arms folded over her chest. "You certainly don't look old enough to have been Mum's best mate."

"Let's just say I'm careful with my beauty sleep," the Doctor said with a wink for good measure. He held Holly by the shoulders at arms' length and gave her a good look-over. "Pity you got your dad's looks; not bad-looking by any means, but your mother and I were a dashing pair."

"Why aren't you very convincing...?" Holly asked. She looked over the Doctor's shoulder at Luke, who was now talking with the Colonel and Lt. Colonel about something or other. "Mr. Smith... are you sure this is the man? Grandmum said the Doctor was much taller... and a lot less ginger..."

"Don't worry; he none of that that when he travelled with my mum either," Luke replied, almost shrugging the girl off. Holly blinked in confusion.

"Wot?"

"How much about Time Lords _do_ you know...?" Evelyn asked.

"Not much... only that it's human, but not quite, and they're from outer space. Mr. Smith told me a lot of stories he heard from his mum, but they didn't really answer any questions."

"Then we've got a lot to talk about, dear," Evelyn said, taking Holly by the hand. She led her from the room, making sure to snatch up her things, and left the men to themselves.

"Sounds like Evvie's got a lot of work on her hands," the Doctor said as he made his way over to the other men. "If she really is Donna's daughter, then you certainly are going to have your hands full."

"Take it her mum was feisty?" Alistair asked with a chuckle. Okere elbowed him and rolled his eyes.

"You're incredibly rude when you can't get in trouble, you know that, right?"

"Why do you think the higher-ups stuck you with me? You keep me in line."

"...like a proper cousin should; now behave. You're a grown man for heaven's sake."

Luke chuckled as Alistair and Okere exchanged glares. He glanced over at the Doctor to see that the man had a far-off look on his face. It was contemplative and troubled at the same time.

"You alright Doctor?"

It took a moment for the Doctor to respond. "Oh, yes... sorry. I am. Just wondering, is all."

"You want to know the same things as Dr. Porter does, don't you?"

"It makes me wary, but my curiosity always does get the best of me in the end, no matter what face I have."

_

* * *

_

Evelyn brought Holly into a small rectangular room that was slightly smaller than her bedroom at home. It had a bed and a fully-stocked desk and a wardrobe and the walls and floor were all made of dreary cement. Holly scrunched up her nose at the sight of it, but smiled in an effort to be polite.

"How lovely..." she said, trying to sound chipper. "This is where I am going to be staying?"

"For the time being, yes," Evelyn said. "We don't expect to have you for very long, so it's unfortunately not that homey. There's a bath down the hall, to your left; should be marked. If you ever need anything, you can ask one of the workers here, or you can come to me personally."

"Ma'am... may I ask what exactly you plan on doing to me?"

"Oh, just running some biological tests. It will be a lot like an extended visit to a health clinic, only more tests and the food isn't as bad."

"Do you have curries and bangers and mash and all sorts of things?"

"I'm fond of chicken tikka, myself, so there's nothing to worry about."

There was a moment of silence as Holly took in her new environment. It was going to be a long few weeks, but at least she was out of school, where she would otherwise be bored out of her skull. She sat on the bed, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"When do you think I can visit my grandmum?"

"In about a week, if things go as smoothly as we predict."

"That'll be nice." Holly opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling, which was also comprised of cement. "I'd go mad if I were down here for too long, no offence."

"None taken. Now, if you could accompany m—" Evelyn began. She was cut off by the sound of an alarm right outside the open door, the siren sitting on the wall and flashing red.

"Red Alert! Red Alert!" warned a disembodied voice. "The compound has been breached! I repeat: the compound has been breached! All military personnel to their stations! All civilians evacuate as directed!"

"Dr. Porter... what's happening...?" Holly asked, standing up.

"Stay here," she answered, not turning around. Her voice was stern.

"...but...!"

Evelyn walked briskly out of the room and shut the door behind her. Holly ran to open it back up and follow her, but it was sealed tightly, as Evelyn had locked it electronically from the other side. Banging her fist on the heavy steel door was all Holly could do.

"Dr. Porter?! Dr. Porter, come back! Mr. Smith?! Mr. Smith! Mr. Smith! Someone!"


End file.
